Computers have conveniently become smaller and smaller in size. There are now notebook computers, hand held personal computers, and personal data assistants in addition to laptop computers.
However, because of their smaller size, computers are now easier to steal, for example, when left unattended for even a brief moment at an airport.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,786, incorporated herein by this reference, a motion detector is coupled to a computer and the computer is disabled whenever it is moved.
The primary problem with this device is that the computer is disabled whenever it is moved. Therefore, if the owner of the computer enables the motion detector and then accidentally moves the computer, her computer will be disabled. Another problem with the device of the '786 patent is that it is an integral component of the computer and thus cannot be used in combination with other objects of value, for example, cellular telephones, other electronic devices, or works of fine art.